Vijayan writes to Maharashtra CM on plight of Kerala nurses

PTI, Apr 24, 2020, 8:28 AM IST

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan once again shot off a letter to his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray, seeking his intervention in ensuring better isolation and quarantine facilities for the nurses from the southern state.

In a letter sent on Thursday, Vijayan said six Keralite nurses, working in the Jaslok hospital, have tested positive for the virus and were now under treatment at the Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai.

The remaining 24 nurses, out of whom 15 are from Kerala, have been shifted to a dormitory by the Mumbai Municipal corporation for isolation, he said.

Though the nurses are getting food and medicines, the conditions in which they are now living need much improvement.

They have to be put in a place where there will be effective isolation and quarantine. The place has to be clean and with provision for separate bathrooms, Vijayan said in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media here.

The Kerala CM wanted Thackeray to intervene in the matter and ensure the health and wellbeing of the nurses who spend all their time engaged in treating and taking care of their patients.

“I hope you will agree that they deserve special attention as they are the foot-soldiers of our healthcare system,” he said.

Vijayan had earlier written to Thackeray on April 6 on the issue of nurses.